A gripping, romantic, sinister, fascinating book set in the 1930s, full of plot twists. At the heart of the story is Agnes, whose life has been ruined by the tuberculosis pandemic, her father dead, and her darling mother struggling, who jumps at the chance of marriage to a charismatic Doctor Fairhaven, met in the South of France, who claims to have a cure for TB. 'There! Between the trees, like a magician 's illusion, the flash of a house...' our first glimpse of Hedone, the opulent, dazzling 'health spa' for the wealthy or, on 'scholarships', artists, writers and musicians with TB run by the blue eyed Doctor. Atmospheric, dark happenings lurk beneath a gilded surface, and it is up to Agnes to find out who she can trust.
Author Polly Crosby captures the beguiling glamour and hope but also the suffocating claustrophobia of Hedone beautifully, and it is hard not to draw parallels with COVID and lockdown in this immersive book which I enjoyed enormously.

3.5 🌟

Seems like quite a nice life in the sanatorium, if you ignore the tb.
Rich, opulent, decadent, just a shame you need to be suffering to get here.
But you can tell things aren't quite right.
Nicely written, and a few good twists in the story.
It didn't go overboard with the sinister vibes, despite what was going on.
Enjoyable read,